The Fabulous Collection of Gertrude Stein, a Committed Woman

Event Description

Gilles Genty, art historian

Born in Pennsylvania to a wealthy family, Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) abandoned her studies in psychology and philosophy to follow her brothers Leo and Michael to Paris. Passionate about literature and a brilliant author herself (Three Lives, 1909), she met writers such as Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in her Paris apartment. But it was her taste for modern paintings that truly revealed her genius; she acquired the most avant-garde works of Matisse as early as the 1905 “Salon d’Automne” and soon became fascinated with Picasso, whose radicalism echoed her own in literature. Leo, also a collector, remained faithful to the Fauves, while Michael and his wife Sarah asked Le Corbusier to build their villa near Paris. Without this very original family, the History of Art would probably not have been the same!

Language: French. Online

In partnership with the Toronto Public Library.

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